The Banzai Beat Anime Podcast
Simulcast Frenzy
This podcast is a proud member of the Blueberry Network that is at blueberry with noease.com. Blueberry with noease.com. Remember you drop the ease! You're listening to the Bonsai Beat, your weekly window into the world of anime, featuring all the latest news, episode reviews and discussion. And now, broadcasting live from an abandoned love hotel. Your hosts, pets and Jellicoon! Hey everybody this is Jellicoon, welcome to episode 30 of the Bonsai Beat. We've got another milestone for the podcast, you beat. As always I've got my got the latest news, dv pics and everything else you guys expect. So yeah, such guys know that, you know, maybe a lot of you know, if you're current in anime watching. The new season of, well everything started, the new season of anime started, the spring 2009. And first of all, I checked out one of the briefly touched on is Kayon. So what this girl who comes to go to a new high school, she's a freshman and she's really excited to go join the music club. Well to this day, she finds out that the music club is being suspended because all the members graduated the year before and there's not enough members to continue on the music club. So she finds two other people but she can't find the fourth person. Well, this fourth person says, you know, I need something to do. Well, well music club sounds fun, so they're all happy. They finally found the fourth person and they butter this girl up with, you know, sweets and coffee and all this stuff and tea and then they're like, "So what answer do you play?" Well it turns out she doesn't play an instrument at all. So the show really focuses on these four girls and their predicament that they find themselves in because they want the music club around. And we'll only see episode one so far, so look for more thrills on the opposite here. Probably in the next couple weeks when they get three or four shows, but I don't want to mention them. This is a really interesting show. It's a little out there. It's a little, I'd say interesting just because it's something you don't see every day and it sure beats the recycled crap that you see elsewhere. So, um, sorry, I'm still getting used to this whole computer and mixer stuff going on. So, um, let's go ahead and hit the news. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. This week in Anime News, brought to you by Anime News Network. Anime News Network. Thank you guys at A&N for giving me the news that I can talk about. Lucky me. Okay. Well, we got a lot, a lot of lot of Funimation news. Um, they've done a lot of good. So, uh, let's just kick right into it. Um, Funimation is to offer Lion Barrels of the Iron and Strike Witches. Um, they announced that they acquired the Strike Witches and Lion Barrels of the Iron. Um, Lion Barrels of Iron, um, is basically a science fiction and if you have never heard of Sky, yeah, Strike Witches, it's a lollicon's best friend. It's a bunch of, it's a lollicon sci-fi, uh, show. Pretty, uh, pretty crazy to say the least. Funimation also last week, last Friday, the day after I recorded the last episode. Uh, now that they will be simulcasting the second season of Fomen Alchemist and actually April 8th, uh, which was today, um, you can now go to Funimation.com/videos and check out Funimation or the new Fomen Oal Alchemist show free, no pirating necessary. Um, I guess I'd almost guarantee this also. Funimation will announce a license as well by Bet. Um, but Funimation is stepping up and getting a really big show here. So, uh, like I said, you can go to Funimation's website. And now the new episodes will be, um, available starting at 10 o'clock a.m. sexual time, um, always about four days after the air in Japan. Um, moving on to Funimation channel now. Um, Funimation channel mentioned that they are adding Viz content to the channel starting in late spring. Um, they're gonna be adding Nana, Honey Clover, Monster, Busa Rankin, and Hunter X Hunter. Now, the weird thing out of those five DVD titles, only out of those show titles, two of them are on DVD. Um, Monster, I actually just got, uh, excuse me, Hunter X Hunter just got the, uh, the box set number two just got released here this week. Um, Busa Rankin, you can get, uh, they broke it up in a box at one, box at two. But Honey and Clover, Monster and Nana are, um, step number released officially on DVD. So, uh, if you're lucky enough to Funimation channel, definitely check it out. I know Honey and Clover, very, uh, sought after show. Um, so, uh, yeah, like I said, if you have Fios, uh, whether it's 248, you get the 24-hour Funimation network. You lucky lucky person, you. Um, Funimation also added some more shows from Toei onto their website. Um, they got Airmaster and Captain Harlock. Um, they're also adding Digimon Adventure O2, Fist of the North Star, uh, Galaxy Express, Prick here, and Slam Dunk. So, um, yeah, uh, Funimation continuing to add more and more titles to their, uh, their very good, uh, video streaming website. Uh, it's a great, great, uh, great alternative. Especially when you can't find the stuff you're looking for, and they actually have it, it's really nice. Um, so more shows to watch. Moving over to Crunchyroll now. Crunchyroll is such a simulcast, not to know a Rashi, and it's available now. Um, what I'm reading often here right now is, uh, April 5th, they started airing it, well, April 4th, four days ago. So, um, you can now go on Crunchroll.com and check out the new brand new show that's airing in Japan. You can check it out now here, uh, in the States. Uh, it's subbed, and, uh, yeah. It's a, uh, basically a, um, science fiction-y. Basically, this, this kid meets an older girl, a high school girl, named, uh, Siako Arashi. Arashi-yama. Um, Arashi being her, uh, nickname. And he finds out a fateful secret, one summer vacation. Um, seems kinda interesting. I haven't checked it on myself, but you never know. Crunchyroll also, uh, they are simulcasting the second I got it. Hayate the Combat Butler series. Um, the, uh, show which is around, uh, basically this kid who, whose parents owe a ton of money to this family. So, to get them out of debt, they sell their kid to this family, and he becomes a butler. The family owes about 1.4 million dollars, which is about 156, uh, million, 804,000, yeah, in Japan. Uh, very, very funny show. The first season was 87 episodes. And, uh, you can watch the second season. Uh, now to some media blasters. Uh, they said they were gonna be delaying some DVDs and now we're canceling others. Um, the DVDs affected are, uh, well, the anti Bible Black New Testament, Volume 3. Second scripture DVD from April 28th to July 28th. Uh, Voltron Defender of the Universe, DVD Collection Number 8, Box Set 2. Uh, that's a Box Set Number 8. April 28th to July 21st. Uh, Gen seeking the Society of the Modern Visual Culture, Volume 1. Uh, from June 30th, did not be announced yet. Uh, Bandai also said they'd be, uh, delaying, uh, delaying some, uh, titles and cancels and titles as well. Voltron the Perfect Collection DVD Box Set. From April 2nd to May 5th. Go ahead and see Destiny DVD Collection Number 2. From April 21st to May 19th. Melissa Gundam 00. Um, episodes 1 through 9. From May 19th to June 16th. Flag the Complete Collection has been cancelled. And Zegipane in the Complete Collection has also been cancelled. Now, one of the things I find funny is these are all re-releases or whatnot. Or full collections just bundled into one collection. Or full shows into one collection. And I almost wonder if they're adding extras or something came through or the printing press is broken or the duper cleaner busted. You know, who knows. Um, finally the really, really big story of the week was, um... Mandalate Pictures bought the rights to Full Metal Panic and they're gonna be producing a live-action movie. As a very big Full Metal Panic fan, as I look up above my computer monitor, I have my Full Metal Panic, Chittery, and, uh, Testerosa, Back-to-Back, cutest forever, uh, Wall Scroll. Uh, I'm very leery and very, uh... Um... I'm gonna be negative about this because it's like... I think of Dragon Ball Z. And Dragon Ball Z is all right terrible. It's a horrible, horrible movie. And... Anime adaptations are the next big thing. People are six sequels, so they'll start ripping off, uh, enemies. Well... Um... You know, I can hope for the best and, uh, hope it's actually something worth a while. I'll... If the... You know, I'll probably stone up watching even the critics' panics because... It's Full Metal Panic. It's a series I know and I love. And... Even if it's, you know, terrible. Uh, at least gotta support it some way, I guess. Um... So that was... All the news of the week. Uh, just a lot from Funimation. A lot of Crunchyroll. Um... More and more and more of this stuff is just becoming on the internet for free. And... It's a great thing. I mean, think about a year ago and... Pat and I started this podcast. Uh, the fight was going on hot and heavy. That... You know, piracy was rampant. And... Um, you know, people were complaining about stuff not being simulcast. You know, the big main excuse was... Well, we can't get in America. Um, well, now you, now you can. And, um... So, you know, I kind of think that piracy statistics might go down. But I also look at it like... Okay, it's great that we get to have this stuff simulcast for free. But... We get 1080 Rips. We get 1080 I Rips. We get 1080 Rips. We get HDTV quality 720p Rips. And... You can play them in a media. And vice versa. Whereas Phonimation.com is Phonimation.com. Um... You know, just a slight argument that I have. Anyway, let's move on to our DVD pick. It's another week and more DVDs are being released. What should you get? It's time for the Wheelie DVD Pits. Alright. Um, well, it's the weekly DVD picks where if I was buying a DVD every week, I would mention what I'd want to get. And this week, I am going to go with the... Um, probably, let's say the Fruits Basket Verdean Collection. Um, Fruits Baskets are really good anime in my opinion. Um, and it's getting cheaper and cheaper. It's a complete show. Um, you know, it's been very expensive in the past. It's got down a little bit more than more. Well, now they have Verdean collections out. *cough* This is like the fourth frickin' re-release of the show. If not more. Sorry about that. Um, but... It's a good show and it's worth watching. If you've never picked it up, I would definitely check it out. Um, the only bad thing is, uh... It's one of those shows with not quite an ending where you have to continue reading in the manga to finish up the story. And that is never fun. Okay. So, um... I'm trying to do two things at once here. Um, basically, we'll just move on to our... Uh, DVD, our- sorry, review, show review. Uh, this week, I am going to be looking at... Uh, Beck, Mongolian Chop Squad. Hey! Hey, did you tell it's rock? Hey, if you're in a rock music, you are going to love this show. Um, the show is, uh... All about rock. Uh, it's all about music. And if you are a huge fan of rock music, you are going to love the music in the show. Um, if you don't like rock music... I would suggest, um, not picking it up per se. Um, the store, uh, the show has been released. It's actually been re-released. You can get the full, complete collection now for $70 from Funimation. And the story is around this, uh, newly formed band named Beck. And how it perceives it, how a one kid perceives everything. And kind of follows his life from not being a musician, all the way to going to this huge concert, um, with this band. So basically, it revolves around a, um... Uh, I believe he is a, um, excuse me. Uh, he is a, uh, junior or a sophomore in high school, or a freshman in high... Oh, excuse me, he's in middle school. Why are you smoking? Um, he is in middle school. Um, I think grade eight or nine, uh, grade seven or eight. Um, I believe it's eighth. Uh, as I see it for 45 minutes more, I'm freaking that out. Um, basically it revolves around this guy, this kid named Ko-Yuki. He bumps into this long lost friend of his that he knew growing up. And she, they talk and talk and she says, "Oh, I got this great music. It's a dying breed." And he's never heard of this band, he's never big in to rock. He's been into idle music, Ko-Yuki has. So, she lets him borrow the dying breed CD. He is amazed. He is just awestruck by this music and was like, "Holy cow, this stuff is like life changing." So, he starts to learn more and more and more. Well, while going out with a couple of his friends, uh, and this new friend, the friend that he met with again, he's walking through, uh, to a restaurant, and there's these kids picking up this weird looking dog. And it's like, quarter dalmatian, just blew on one part. It's ragged. And the kid shoots the kids away from, or Ko-Yuki shoots the kids away from harassing the dog. Well, the owner comes over and says, "Thanks." Ko-Yuki goes to try to pet the dog and it bites him. So, this guy, the owner, gives him a bandage and, you know, a handkerchief that says, "You know, thanks. Appreciate it." Well, they move on and they go to the restaurant. Well, they only hang out and the same guy who owns a dog finds himself with some, uh, some trouble and, uh, Ko-Yuki kind of stands up for him and, you know, basically the students get kind of harassed then for all these guys. And the end, uh, so basically after all this jazz kind of happens. I'm not trying to not be slow and methodical. But you turn, you find out that the guy's name, the guy's name is where he was K. And he used to be, um, in a very famous band. But, um, they broke up, they broke up and, um, his friend wasn't dying breed. Uh, like the lead singer or, um, yeah, the lead singer. So, um, you have to find out that the dog's name is Beck. Well, Ko-Yuki just so transcribe some of this and he wants to know more and more and more. Well, they kind of bond. And Ryu-Ske gives, uh, uh, Ko-Yuki, Ko-Yuki, his first guitar. He plays it like mad, learns and learns and learns and learns. He meets some funny characters along the way. But he happens to me to, uh, basically the guitar teacher slash swimming coach named, um, Sato. He used to be in a very, he's in an old classic rock. And loves a British band. And he offers a teach Ko-Yuki, guitar lessons, um, he's a very funny character. And so they start a band, uh, Ryu-Ske and Ko-Yuki, a couple other people, and a student who plays the drums at his school. Um, they start a band named Beck after the dog. Uh, basically, it goes along from them just starting out as a band, getting to know each other, getting to know all the characters. Um, and going from there, um, they slowly start to get a little, you know, catch, uh, they do in the local scene. Um, uh, and it's all from Ko-Yuki's point of view for the most part. It's basically, it's him telling the story. Um, and it's just a really good show. The characters are great. Um, this show is amazing for dub work. Greg Ayers is amazing as Ko-Yuki. And Greg Ayers even sings! What anime does that? You don't see a lot of anime's anymore. The English, um, dub actors are actually gonna sing, and it's gonna be good. And, um, that was most impressive, but I really found myself, like, cheering on Ko-Yuki. You know, seeing him come from nothing, and being able to play guitar, and sing, and, uh, you know, come from his little world all the way up to something big and meaningful. Uh, the story arcs are great. A little bit predictable, but the show leaves you with a really good sense of, uh, uh, just leaves you wanting more after every episode, and, uh, overall, you're left really, like, the show's really good. The only bad part of this is, um, like, fruit's basket. There's more after. There's somewhat of an ending, but you know there's gonna be more, there's gotta be more. The manga, uh, I actually looked into this myself today. Um, manga number 11 starts after the end of the anime. And, unfortunately, Tokyo Pop is only released, um, up to 12, 13 is coming out in June. So, a little bit of a wait. But I would say definitely, if you're in Iraq music, and just looking for a fun, like, out of anime, um, check it out, it is rated M, um, they do drop a lot of cuss words. And, uh, especially the first episode of, uh, if you could do this, uh, fucks thrown in there for whatever reason. But, great, great show. Um, I highly, highly recommend checking this show out. In Iraq music, like I said, um, a very fun show. So, um, yeah, that is Back Mongolian Chop Squad. It came back. Um, you can check out some of the songs and whatnot, like I was saying, you know, Greg Ayres. I'll show you two. Um, I love people making AMVs for this show. Um, just a great, great piece of anime. And I really do hope that they come up with another, uh, um, another season because, uh, in total in Japan, there was 34 manga, um, volumes. And like I said, we're only up to number 12 in the States, so, you know. So, uh, you could check out, um, the Bonsai Beat at online, as always, at BonsaiBeat.com. Check out the Bonsai Effect at www.bonsaithebonsaieffect.com. Also, Twitter me at twitter.com/jellocoon. J-E-L-L-O-K-U-N. We'll have to hear from you any feedback, any, uh, suggestions. Um, still looking for, uh, a couple co-hosts. I have a few things kinda in the, uh, in the, uh, in the reigns here. But, um, nothin' for sure yet, but if you're interested in joining me, uh, feel free. Uh, I know it'd be a lot more interesting and more fun than this, and we'd talk for 25 minutes, so, uh, yeah. This is J-E-L-O-Koon saying, uh, until next time, saiyanaro. [BLANK_AUDIO]
Jellokun gives you the latest anime related news and reviews Beck: Mongolian Chop Squad